Seven Deadly Sins has grown into a widely popular series for both fans in the East and the West since the anime was released. Beginning as a manga back in October 2012, the series was adapted into an anime series for two seasons, which was widely lauded for its rich story and main characters.

RELATED: 10 Anime Characters That Look Weak But Are Actually Strong

Audiences have grown fond of the main protagonist Meliodas and the rest of his ragtag group. So how much do we know about Meliodas and the gang? With season three around the corner, we take a deep look at our favorite characters.

10 Meliodas

meliodas from seven deadly sins

Since we’re discussing our main guy Meliodas, let’s look into his dragon tattoo. Meliodas’ mark on the tattoo resembles the ancient symbol of Ouroboros, which is a snake eating its own tail. The snake symbolizes infinity and the cycle of life and death. In this instance, we see the dragon eating its own tail on Meliodas’ arm which works perfectly for him as one of the strongest characters in the series bearing the same strength as a dragon. Because of his father’s powers, Meliodas was cursed with immortality. It's no wonder the Ouroboros symbol represents our main character’s struggle with being immortal for all eternity.

9 Elizabeth Liones

The third princess of Liones has become the focal point for the series and is part of the overall story involving her kingdom. We notice that her left pupil is covered up with her hair and we don’t get to see her full power till the end of season one. Her true power actually comes from her left eye that glows orange at full strength. What you see on the eye is the symbol showing a triple spiral that represents the Triple Goddess of maiden, mother, and crone. This reflects the stages of a woman’s life as shown in the moon phases. It makes sense that she would have this knowing she is a descendant and apostle of the Goddess clan in the series.

8 Diane

Diane is one of the members of the Deadly Sins belonging to the Giants’ clan in the land of Megadozer, which explains her humongous size. Diane bears the symbol of the serpent sin of envy on her left thigh with the power of creation using the ground.

RELATED: FMA Brotherhood - Top 10 Friendships and Alliances

Based on Arthurian legend, her name may be related to Diana of the Wood who has a strong connection to nature. She mentions being 29 feet tall but she’s actually 30 feet in height since she’s self-conscious about her height. She has lived for 750 years although series creator Nabaka Suzuki claimed that in human years, she’s younger than Elizabeth.

7 Ban

Ban bears the mark of the Fox and represents the Sin of Greed. His name actually comes from King Ban, who turns out to be the father of Sir Lancelot in the Arthurian legend. Just like the myth, he fell for Elaine but circumstances led to him losing her while gaining the power of immortality after her death. We know Ban loves to cook and he’ll eat anything except for food made by Meliodas who is horrible at it. As an Aquarius born on Valentine’s Day, Ban resembles much of the features that come with being an Aquarius, which includes being charming, romantic, and impulsive.

6 King

King was originally the King of the Fairies before he became the Sin of Sloth. Despite not having wings, King is good at flying and being able to levitate anything he touches. He can also manipulate nature at a molecular level by either growing trees from the ground up or just spreading toxins in the air. His back story is a lot similar to King Herla in the old Arthurian legend where he leaves his kingdom and comes back to find some big changes and the loss of a loved one. What we notice is that King seems to have a thing for Diane so it’s no wonder he likes to spy on her from time to time.

5 Gowther

The Sin of Lust Gowther just loves to read in his spare time when he isn’t in battle. Gowther doesn’t display much emotion since he really is a doll created with magic. Rather than a cow and the color blue, Gowther’s animal symbol is a goat with red on it.

RELATED: 10 Anime To Watch ON Netflix Right Now

He always has his glasses on, revealing that he can’t always see what’s around him if he has them taken off. Gowther apparently has a lot of power going into people’s memories and messing with them. He can even transform his appearance so no one can recognize him out in the open.

4 Merlin

Regarded as the most powerful mage in Brittania, Merlin is over 3,000 years old bearing the boar’s Sin of Gluttony. No one knows what race she belongs to, but her youthful appearance is due to the fact that she used magic to stop herself from aging. It’s no surprise that she shares the same name as the legendary mage and advisor to King Arthur. As revealed in the manga, the tattoos of each animal of the deadly sins were created by Merlin’s magic. She is the only one of the characters who’s personality reflects the sin she bears. In the manga, it was also hinted that the person Merlin professed her love to was Meliodas.

3 Escanor

Also known as the Lion’s Pride, Escanor has probably one of the biggest tattoos out of all the Deadly Sins. Although his powers are useless at night, his strength grows during the day based on his physical appearance. In his strongest state, he seems to have control over his body when it exerts heat. He also goes through a personality change, so it’s no wonder Escanor prefers his night time appearance. He also happens to have a crush on Merlin even though she doesn’t. Escanor has the same name as the Arthurian legend who also grew in strength by each hour. Escanor also likes to write poetry in his downtime.

2 Hawk

Meliodas’ pet companion Hawk served as the comic relief of the series. A lot of fans thought of Hawk as a female when in fact the character is actually a male. His name was also originally Hork, which in translation to English means to clean vomit. It certainly fits with who he is since he does eat leftovers. If you knew the back story of Meliodas, he had a companion similar to Hawk in the form of a parrot named Wendell, implying that Hawk could possibly be the reincarnation of him since they share the same personalities. For those who read the one-shot manga, Hawk’s mom in the anime was actually replaced by a moving fortress with legs that was similar to Howl’s Moving Castle.

1 Arthur Pendragon

The King of Camelot as fans know bears the same name as the famous legend of King Arthur. Being a skilled swordsman, Arthur does have a high amount of magic energy that rivals most of the Deadly Sins. He shares the same relationship with Merlin as the myth. Each of the characters has some sort of connection with him, especially Meliodas. Arthur sees Meliodas as a mentor but is disheartened when he finds out that Meliodas gave in to his demonic nature. He also offered Meliodas a position among the Holy Knights at one point but denied taking it until the Kingdom was saved.

NEXT: 10 Anime To Watch On Hulu Right Now